- Stine Skøtt Thomsen: “How Ebola affects education”
- Morten Sodemann, professor of global health på ‘Center of Global Health’ (Syddansk Universitet): “Hunting black swans in Global health”
- Presentation: “EBOLA and the Rainforest, the Connection?”
- Presentation: “Consequences of Ebola”
- Presentation: “Learning Center – Ebola and Development”
- Presentation: “Learning Center – Projectprocess”
- Stine Skøtt Thomsen, IBIS made a presentation on “How Ebola affects education” the presentation was on the effects of Ebola on school attendance in Liberia with a point of departure in IBIS’ educational programs. (See presentation)
- Bauke van Weringh, Engineers Without Borders made a presentation on “How Ebola affects EWB projects” the presentation focused on how Ebola has shaped development efforts in Sierra Leone. (See Presentation)
- Patrick Kogler, Architects Without Borders made a presentation on “The Environmental Learning Centre” – the presentation was on how the center is designed and built to raise awareness about sustainable building and landscaping, problems with deforestation, sand mining, gold mining, and clean water, became non-functional due to the Ebola crisis.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has had an unprecedented magnitude, duration and spatial spread. Most attention has been to treat and contain. Time is now to look at the causes of the causes and how such outbreaks of Ebola and similar diseases might be prevented. A meeting co-organized by IDA Global Development, Engineers without Borders and Architects without Borders.
For more than a year, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has attracted international media, donor and relief organizations’ attention. The primary focus has been on containment and treatment. This is somehow understandable as the disease is highly infectious and fatal. About half of those infected will develop the disease and die shortly after being infected. It is estimated that more than 10,000 have died until now in what is considered an unprecedented outbreak in terms of magnitude, duration and spatial spread. However, now that the epidemic appears to level off, it might be time to ask some questions, including:
Why did it attract such international attention, when the number of death after all is relatively small compared, e.g., to the about 6,500 children dying every day from vaccine-preventable diseases?
Why now and why there? What is the ‘natural’ evolution of an epidemic? What are the possible social, economic, ecological and environmental drivers underlying the Ebola epidemic experienced in West Africa?
Given these factors, what are the lessons learned from the outbreak and how might future threats from Ebola across the complex urban and rural landscapes that now define modern Africa be managed?
A meeting on the 27th of May, co-organized by IDA Global Development, Engineers without Borders and Architects without Borders will seek to throw light on and answer these questions.
17:00-17:05 Welcome
17:05-18:00 Snapshots from the field:
— Stine Skøtt Thomsen, IBIS – “How Ebola affects education”
— Bauke van Weringh, Engineers Without Borders – “How Ebola affects EWB projects in Sierra Leone.
— Patrick Kogler, Architects Without Borders – “The Environmental Learning Centre” – a project became non-functional due to the Ebola crisis.
18:00-18:45 Prof. Morten Sodemann, Odense University Hospital – “Epidemiology and social determinants of Ebola”.
18:45-19:15 Sandwiches and Networking.
19:15-20:00 Tommy Garnett, The Environmental Foundation for Africa – “Why does the Ebola crisis in West Africa present a need for improved natural resource protection across Africa?”
20:00-20:15 Buzz groups generating proposals for how to manage future threats of Ebola from a developmental perspective.
20:15-20:55 Discussions with and reflections by the panel (Thomsen, van Weringh, Kogler, Sodemann and Garnett) on the proposals from the buzz groups.
20:55-21:00 Close of meeting.